Happy Hallowe'en!

Never too old for dressing up. Here is Cody...off to a university party.

Timing is everything

How cute is this photo? Take a close look at the pumpkin...it's a carved look-a-like of Hudson!

The photo was sent to me by Marie-Piere. She is an awesome woman who has helped out our Paws for Charity cause again this year. She held a fundraiser in September and raised $50 on our behalf. We'll be donating her cheque to breast cancer research together with cheques from the 4 Paws for Charity businesses in December. Thanks Marie-Piere!

For those of you who were reading this blog back in April...an update on my application to the Ottawa Christmas Craft Show. I was devastated to be turned down back then...it was such a big goal for me to not obtain. I was put on a waiting list. Yah, right. Turns out it was true! They phoned me today to say they had some last minute cancellations and would I like to attend?

I spent several hours today trying to make it happen. But. Timing is everything. I would have loved the chance to do this back in April. Lots has changed since then. And there are only 9 days to prepare for a 5 day show (5 days...2 days at 11 hours, 1 day at 8 hours, 1 day at 5 hours, and 1 day at 7 hours) I just can't do it. This was really difficult to say no to. But you'll see why I had to say no in time. (can't tell you yet!)

My regular customer in England has just ordered again. Thanks Sooty! You make me feel so special when you order your biscuits all the way from Canada.

As promised, here is a little look at a PIF I sent out a few weeks ago. And that ends my PIF obligations! Yay.

It has been scanned in a little crooked, but you get the idea. C for Corline...she said she likes pinks, cream, and olive green. The C is made from cream material with small pink flowers, stitched in a blanket stitch with olive green. I think I'm going to try out some stitchery next year. Stitchery seems to be a lot bigger in Australia. If you like stitchery check out Cinderberry Stitches. I just love her patterns! Gonna get some soon.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Today is a gift. Do something good!

Urban Dog Photog's PerPETual calendar

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I met with the Paws for Charity women for coffee. Urban Dog Photog Sue Bird had her new calendars with her....and they are fantastic!

Sue always comes up with such original ideas, and this is definitely original. Her 2 year perPETual calendar is a wire bound calendar featuring her fantastic dog photography.

One year is dedicated to greyhounds. The other year is an "all breed" calendar. Aside from Sue's wonderful photographs, the great thing about this calendar is that it's perpetual...you can start it anytime and go for 2 years. Anytime. Not just in January. Not just for 2008/2009. Anytime.

What a great idea! Even better is that Sue is donating part of the proceeds from each calendar sale to our Paws For Charity cause.

To order a calendar (great for gifts!) go to the "Buy" section at www.photobysuebird.com.

Good & Bad

::Good::This little cutie is Lily, photo by Kendra.
::Bad::I've had this photo for weeks and weeks. Sorry for not posting it sooner Kendra!
::Good::We're back from a fabulous trip down to Nova Scotia...just a little break away that I needed.
::Bad::Oh my gosh, I've been working my not so little behind off since we've returned. I knew it was a bad time to go away but sometimes you just have to pay the price for something you really want to do. Lots of late nights ahead.
::Good::Lots of my stores have ordered well ahead, so I don't have to go absolutely bonkers all at once.
::Good::My new Pumpkin Please! tags are finally ready. We picked them up from the printer yesterday and they look fabulous.
::Bad::I promised 100 sample packs to a fundraiser on Saturday and was waiting for the new tags since it's a dog Hallowe'en Party...Pumpkin dog biscuits seemed to be appropriate. Another late night packaging them up so I can deliver them tomorrow.
::Good::I spent some time with the other Paws for Charity women today. We're all so busy, but it was great to take a little breather. Meeting with them always recharges my creative batteries...Char, Julie, and Sue are truly inspirational.
::Bad::I'm out of biscuits again. Another trip to the bakery tomorrow for another car load...500 pounds of biscuits.
::Good::Another new store this week...The Great Canadian Gift Co will be receiving their shipment of Barking Biscuits tomorrow. Yay!

Toodles

I photographed our Virginia Creeper vine yesterday morning. I've been thinking for over a week that I wanted to do this. On the way to collect our morning paper, I glanced over at our fence and there weren't many leaves left on the vines. The red leaves are glorious....love them.
I like this photo...reminds me of a star. Good for wishing.

I have this little idea in my mind that involves stars and wishing. I'll work on it when we return from our impromptu trip down to Nova Scotia.

Finally, finally, I finished my little PIF project. My last PIF is on its way to Corline. I'll post a pic of it when I return...she should receive it by then (don't want to spoil the surprise).

So...we're off...leaving tonight at 3 am. We're taking Cassie with us and leaving our son to look after the rest of the crew at home. (we thought it might be just a little early to leave her behind) Cody will have fun house sitting and dog and cat sitting (actually, he's probably very happy to have the house to himself for a while!)

Have a great weekend, and we'll talk in 10 days or so!

K9 Costume Ball

What fun! Yet another "must attend" event for all you dog loving folks.

Prizes for the best costumes...great raffle prizes...5 x 7 portraits for a $10 donation courtesy of Heath Photo...and more!

And everyone will get a sample of our new Pumpkin Please! Barking Biscuits. (please Mr. Printer....please, please print our new tags in time)

Date: Saturday October 27th
Time: Noon to 4:00 pm (costume judging at 3:00pm)
Location: Forever Friends Dog Training, Unit 6, 17 Grenfell Cres, Nepean

So...that's 2 fun things to do in one day....The Greyhound Planet Day event....and The K9 Costume Ball.

Deep Breath

It's been a little hectic around here of late. Shipping out Christmas orders has wiped out my biscuit supply. We picked up yet another load from my bakery yesterday (500 pounds) and brought them to the workshop. Today will be a mad day of packing, packing, packing!

To add to all this, we'll be taking 9 days off to go to one of our favourite parts of the world...Nova Scotia. Despite it being the busiest time of year, we are going. I'm really looking forward to it but feeling a little guilty about getting away when it's my busiest time of the year. But the stores are stocked up and shouldn't need any more supplies till the end of the month. The web site orders get crazy in November but should be okay for the next week. So....no more guilty feelings! (please)

Before we leave, I just have to let you know about a couple of fun things happening later this month. For today, let's talk about the celebration for International Greyhound Planet Day on Saturday October 27th.

Greyhound Planet Day is a time chosen each year to honour the greyhound and its relatives throughout the world and to raise awareness of retired racing greyhounds as pets.

Ottawa's event will be held at Christ Church Cathedral Hall (240 Sparks St) on October 27th from 10 am to 3 pm. The Barking Biscuit will be there selling all our greyt (couldn't resist) biscuits. There will be lots of vendors and info booths, contests and raffles. Bring the whole family and leashed pets are welcome (not just greyhounds!) All funds raised will go to support research into tick borne diseases.

For more info, go to Greyhound Supporters of the NCR. Hope to see you there!

You snooze, you lose

Our lives have been in a little bit of an upheaval over the last couple of weeks. The addition of Cassie to our lives has had a few ups and downs. She is a great dog, but does have a few challenges. (don't we all?) We were warned that she is a "bit of a counter surfer". Whoa. Understatement. One day she ate half a pound of butter in the time it took me to walk from the kitchen to the dining room table to put down my piece of toast. Another day she stole a two pound roast of beef from the counter after John made a sandwich and before I got to it to make mine. There was no trace of it anywhere in less than one minute.

Yesterday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner at our place. Eight of us stuffed our faces and had a great family time. Lots of things to be thankful for. I was so full after dinner, that I didn't have a piece of pumpkin pie...one of my favourites. I thought I'd save it for Monday when I could really enjoy it.

You snooze, you lose.

Until I can get Cassie trained not to "counter surf", I need to train the 2 legged family members not to leave food on the counter.

Pumpkin pie...gone. Bumbleberry pie (only one piece taken)...gone. And the evidence was clearly there this time...pumpkin pie all over Cassie's face! Deep breath. No pie for me. I really do love this dog. (?)

Cassie's Day At The Spaw...Before & After

Hallowe'en Fun in October

This photo was sent to us by Amanda. Seems a fitting photo to kick off the month of October. Although it's hard to believe it's October around here. We've had nothing but warm, warm, warm...and more to come! Today it's 28C (that's 82F for our American friends) Thanksgiving Sunday is supposed to be the same. That will make for a great turkey BBQ on the Big Green Egg. I don't think any of our guests will have experienced that before!

Canines with a Cause is holding a wonderful new contest that has just been announced today. CWAC is looking for pictures of your own 'dog-theme' pumpkin carving until October 27th. The winner will be announced on October 28th and the winning picture will be featured on their website from Oct. 28th to the end of Halloween. Send your picture(s) along with a monetary contribution to Canines with a Cause in order to participate (no specific amount required). For complete details click here.

CONTEST RULES:
- Contest open to any individual, group, business or organization in Canada and USA
- Carving designs and pictures submitted must be your original artwork and must be received no later than October 27th
- Only DOG related designs will be considered
- Maximum of 2 entries per participant

Contributions must be by cheque or money order payable to Canines with a Cause and sent to: Canines with a Cause 25 Trevor Cres. Ottawa ON Canada K2H 6H7

Participant with the winning carving will receive a CWAC Gift Package which includes:

A night accommodation for 2 at the Best Western Baron Hotel (for Ontario residents only)
10-card pack of CWAC Christmas cards
CWAC children's T-Shirt
Barking Biscuit Adult T-Shirt
Happy Doggie Bakery dog biscuits
DVD Round the World Challenge - Mike Nemesvary documentary
Sit!Stay! Roll Over Play game

More fun stuff is coming up in October for dog lovers in Ottawa. Stay tuned!

Name The Pumpkin Biscuit Contest Results

Thanks to all of you for your response to our contest and your wonderful name suggestions. We received 64 name suggestions, but only a handful of votes. I had a tough time deciding, so I left it up to my tag designer to choose.

One of the things us non designer people don't think about...some names are just too long to fit on the tag! Anyway, my designer (Brian) has a motto...keep it simple. The cleaner and less cluttered the better is his policy.

So, here it is:

Pumpkin Please! was suggested by two people: Kim and Christine. They'll both be receiving a Barking Biscuit gift pack as soon as our new tags are printed.

To everyone who sent us a name suggestion: please don't be disappointed. We'll send you a free Barking Biscuit button pin just for playing. If you want one, please email me with your mailing address. Let me know what kind of pin you want...our logo pin (choice of apple green, kelly green, olive green, golden yellow, orange, light blue, dark pink) or our cat logo pin (choice of apple green, golden yellow, orange, light blue, dark pink).

Now I'm off to pack a bunch of Christmas orders! Ho Ho Ho.